Boulter

British number three Katie Boulter’s poor run of form continued with a straight-sets loss to world number 44 Eva Lys in the first round of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.

Boulter, 29, was beaten 6-2 6-1 in just one hour and 14 minutes by the 23-year-old German.

After coming through two rounds of qualifying, she was the only British player in the main draw after Emma Raducanu withdrew, ending her season early through illness.

The Briton was only able to win 50% of the points on her first serve and was broken five times by Lys.

This latest defeat caps a disappointing run of form, which has seen the former world number 29 unable to progress beyond the second round of a tournament since the Nottingham Open in June.

It also comes five days after the Briton lost in straight sets in the second round of the Japan Open by world number 51 Sorana Cirstea.

Elsewhere, British number four Fran Jones was beaten in straight sets by China’s Wang Xiyu in the first round of the Guangzhou Open.

Seventh seed Jones was broken four times in the match as she lost 6-4 6-4 to the world number 163.

Age: 29 Ranking: 55 Strength: Forehand

British number two Katie Boulter, appearing in the BJK Cup for the seventh year, brings some much-needed experience to Anne Keothavong’s side.

She won her singles match against Germany in April’s qualifying event but lost in the singles against the Netherlands, before she and Jodie Burrage teamed up to win the decisive doubles match and clinch Britain’s finals place.

It has, however, been a mixed 2025 for Boulter.

She missed some tournaments early in the year with a foot injury before claiming a maiden clay title at a WTA 125 event in Paris.

A second-round defeat at the first women’s Queen’s event for 52 years was part of a difficult grass-court season, and Boulter relinquished her two-year reign as British number one to Raducanu as a result.

She achieved a fourth career win against a top-10 player – defeating Paula Badosa in the Wimbledon first round – but lost to lucky loser Solana Sierra in the next.

Boulter did not make it past the second round at any of the four Grand Slams, admitting at Wimbledon that her “moment might not come”.

But Boulter has often highlighted her love of competing for her country, with the BJK Cup bringing out the best in her.

That was in evidence against Japan on Thursday as she dropped just three games in a straight-set win over Moyuka Uchijima to secure Britain’s semi-final spot.

British pair Sonay Kartal and Katie Boulter were knocked out in the US Open first round as conditions heated up in New York.

Kartal, who has been managing a knee niggle in recent months, suffered physically in a 6-3 1-6 6-1 defeat against Brazilian 18th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia.

A bizarre deciding set saw a struggling Kartal trail 3-0 before being handed a lifeline when Haddad Maia’s movement also became hampered – seemingly down to cramp.

Points became slow and laboured in testing conditions – but neither player refused to give in.

Haddad Maia lost serve for 3-1 as she could barely walk but recovered sufficiently, helped by the vocal support of a boisterous set of Brazilian fans, to serve out a remarkable victory.

Kartal, who was making her debut in the US Open main draw, also appeared to be struggling with the knee problem which she had strapped during her memorable run to the Wimbledon fourth round in July.

Boulter, 29, lost 6-4 6-4 to Ukrainian 27th seed Marta Kostyuk as she was unable to turn around her Grand Slam struggles.

The powerful baseliner, who has never reached the second week of a major, has been out of form this season and seemed to lack confidence against Kostyuk.

Saving five match points as she served at 5-3 illustrated how Boulter will not stop fighting and helped her create three break points in the 10th game.

However, Kostyuk recovered to serve out the match and move into the second round.

The Briton showed resilience in the early stages by staving off five break points in her opening service game.

She then wrapped up the opening set in style by winning five successive games.

After exchanging a couple of breaks in the second set, Raducanu – who also beat Ruse in Auckland in 2024 – found the crucial break to lead 5-4 and served out for the match.

Since losing against Aryna Sabalenka at Wimbledon earlier in July, Raducanu has bounced back strongly with four victories from five appearances on hard courts.

If she gets past Stearns in Montreal, American fifth seed and 2025 Wimbledon finalist Amanda Anisimova could be waiting in the third round.

Boulter narrowly avoided being on the end of a bagel against Zarazua, saving two set points to get to 5-1, but the Mexican swiftly wrapped up the opener when back on serve.

The 28-year-old put up greater resistance in the second but never managed to get a foothold in the match as she crashed out.

In contrast, Kartal appears to be thriving at Wimbledon.

The 23-year-old has enjoyed an impressive rise in the last 12 months and beat 20th seed Jelena Ostapenko in the first round – her third win against a top-20 opponent this year. She followed that by powering past Bulgaria’s Viktoriya Tomova 6-2 6-2 to reach the third round.

Kartal is a recognisable presence on the court with her tattoos and distinctly retro tennis kit, and appears to be enjoying playing on the big stage.

Her path to professional tennis is not a well-trodden one, having had to largely self-fund her career, something she credits with helping her to mature very quickly.

“When I was growing up, I kind of did quite a lot of tournaments on my own just because I couldn’t afford to pay a coach week in and week out,” said Kartal, who has climbed around 250 places in the rankings over the past year to 51st.

“I think it was great. It helped me develop as a teenager, grow up super fast, made me much more mature, hold myself accountable to a lot of things.”

Next up for Kartal is a match against French qualifier Diane Parry, who beat 12th seed and world number 15 Diana Shnaider to reach the third round.

The British number three is determined to keep her good form going as she looks to reach the fourth round for the first time.

“I think having a home Slam, I think that’s one arena I really want to perform well in front of the people that mean the most to me, friends and family and everyone,” added Kartal.

“Also, it’s a surface that doesn’t really come naturally to me. I have to really think and adapt my game style, which I think is also going to help me develop beyond this tournament as well.”

“Athletes across all sports have been discussing this for a long time, but it hasn’t really changed. Hopefully something can get done soon.”

Asked for his view – as both an ex-player and father-of-four – about what could be done to eradicate toxic abuse, Murray said: “If I’m being honest I don’t know. Me and my wife are trying to keep our children off social media until they are much older, because I think it can be pretty damaging.”

Murray’s eldest child is nine, while his youngest is four. Many social media apps have a minimum age of 13 for users.

Technology firms will have to do more to protect young people from harmful content under the Government’s Online Safety Act. It is being introduced in phases and social media platforms are now obliged to protect users from illegal or harmful content, while more child safety measures are being introduced next month.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told the BBC the government will also explore whether further protective measures can be put in place on social media platforms.

Figures provided by data science firm Signify, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) show that in 2024, about 8,000 abusive, violent or threatening messages were sent publicly to 458 tennis players through their social media accounts.

Following Boulter’s comments, fellow tennis players demanded more action, including calls for the introduction of identity verification.

Several of the England women’s football team also plan to give up social media for their forthcoming European Championship defence in Switzerland.

Murray said: “I don’t know whose responsibility it is, I don’t know if the government needs to do more to tackle it, or [X owner] Elon Musk and people like that can do more to stop these messages getting through to individuals.

“I don’t mean just athletes, but then you get into the whole debate around free speech and it’s a difficult one.”

Murray also said athletes could help themselves “by trying to avoid looking at the comments and going on our phones immediately after matches”, but the onus was not on them to solve the problem.

Former British tennis player Naomi Broady, 35, told BBC Radio 5 Live about her experiences of abuse on social media, saying: “I’ve seen the worst of trolling and after I had children, I don’t show their faces any more.”

British number two Katie Boulter says she’s had “hundreds of messages” containing “love” and “appreciation” since BBC Sport published an article where she shared the abusive messages she receives on social media.

Boulter agreed to sit down with BBC Sport to provide unprecedented insight into the volume and nature of abuse received by players, including sharing screenshots of her private inbox.

READ MORE: Tennis player Boulter reveals scale of online abuse

Boulter got a feel for the grass in her doubles victory alongside Raducanu on Monday but faced a tough challenge in Tomljanovic in her first singles match of the season on the surface.

Having navigated a tricky hold where she saw off break points before impressively breaking to love, she missed the opportunity at 5-4 to serve out the set.

Instead, Boulter relied on her serve to get her out of trouble in the first-set tie-break, smashing a forehand winner to take the set in just over an hour.

But things spiralled rapidly for Boulter in set two as she struggled to find any rhythm, falling down a double break and struggling to find the answers.

And, having relied so heavily on a strong serve in the first set, she double-faulted on the first point of the opening game in the decider, laying the foundations for Tomljanovic to break.

Now on a run of six games without a win for Boulter, the home crowd was flat and struggled to provide the Briton with the boost she needed.

That came soon after, though, as Boulter immediately broke back and rediscovered some momentum to win three games in a row.

More to-ing and fro-ing followed as neither player could hold their serve but Boulter eventually kept her calm at 4-4, holding serve before taking the match when Tomljanovic’s forehand dropped long.

She will face Poland’s Magdalena Frech or fifth seed Diana Shnaider in the next round.

Watch as Britain’s number one and two Katie Boulter and Emma Raducanu book their place in the second round of the women’s doubles at Queen’s with a straight- sets victory over Xinyu Jiang and Fang-Hsien Wu.

FOLLOW: Queen’s Tennis – Day One

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